The Ocean at the End of the Lane in Shut Up & Read

Jul 06, 2013 Think rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-loved, library, 2013-reads, own-signed-copy

Originally posted at Thinks Books... http://thinksbooks.blogspot.com/2013/...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a beautifully creepy modern fairy tale for adults. Neil Gaiman has reminded me (again) why he is my favorite author. Gaiman weaves his words so delicately even dealing with the major theme of good vs. evil. There is a young boy of 7, that come to think of it, I don't believe is ever named... oh well, it really doesn't even matter! I felt so much empathy for this little boy! It all sta ...more

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Oct 23, 2013 Meran rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror, fiction, novels, fantasy, mystery, magic, culture, weird, supernatural

A middle aged man goes home for a funeral (not stated in the novel, though it's obvious) and after the "words have been said", instead of going to his sister's house as expected, he goes instead to his childhood home, then from there to the "house at the end of the lane" where Lettie Hempstock lived, the girl who told him the small pond at their house was an ocean.

Which quickens his memory. He "remembered everything."

Which is a mystery in itself... What has he forgotten??

It begins with his 7th b A middle aged man goes home for a funeral (not stated in the novel, though it's obvious) and after the "words have been said", instead of going to his sister's house as expected, he goes instead to his childhood home, then from there to the "house at the end of the lane" where Lettie Hempstock lived, the girl who told him the small pond at their house was an ocean.

Which quickens his memory. He "remembered everything."

Which is a mystery in itself... What has he forgotten??

It begins with his 7th birthday party, the one where no one came. Then there's a fluffy black kitten, who is run over one day and before he knew of the death, it was replaced by an older, ginger cat named, appropriately, Monster. The one did NOT replace the other, not really, though the scales were considered balanced. Another loss, that of his bedroom had come a little later (it was 'let out'- the family needed the income.) This resulted in more losses, since he slept in his sister's room now with her and had to give up small liberties, which were important to him. The loss of decent toast (his dad burns it); a comic in the seat of the family car, stolen, then found, the comic under the suicided man who'd had his room and had stolen the car; this is how he meets Lettie.

After this he gets a small coin, then wins L25 (pounds), then awakes from bad dreams choking on another coin. So, first there's loss; now, there's gain. With all this he gained the protection of 11 yr old Lettie and her older womenfolk.

Lettie leads him, with magical means: a hazel dowsing rod she makes on the spot. He makes an error while they're in the magical worlds she takes him to, he lets go of her hand. It's just long enough for a monster to hitchhike to our world with him. He's unaware of the passenger. This monster shows up at his house, in person, becomes the very pretty babysitter/housekeeper; she gains the trust of both parents and his sister.

Life begins to go very badly for him then; and he's still only 7. Loss become an even stronger theme.

The story is in first person, by his 7 yr old self. Some readers have noted/complained that 7 yr olds don't think with this much clarity. However, I remember myself at that age and believe that some children become "aware" earlier than others.

I don't want to say anything more, as much as I like this very magical book -- I don't want to give anything away! Read it; learn from it; return to it when you need to ;)

This story is one of Gaiman's best, in a long time, or ever. HIghly recommended.

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